This invention relates to magazines for firearms, and specifically to indicators showing the number of bullets remaining in a gun magazine.
Guns are usually constructed to fire a plurality of bullets, often by employing a removable magazine that contains a plurality of bullets (as used herein, "bullets" includes "cartridges"). Typically, a magazine comprises a hollow body configured to accept a plurality of bullets and having a bullet aperture through which bullets are loaded into the magazine and through which bullets are urged to enter the gun's firing chamber. The magazine is usually provided with a follower that is urged towards the bullet aperture, usually by a spring, so that a new bullet is urged towards the bullet aperture after a bullet is removed from the magazine.
It is very desirable to be able to determine the number of bullets in a magazine so that the user knows how many shots he has left. Of course, this can be determined by knowing the capacity of the magazine when full, and counting the number of bullets that have been fired. However, guns are often used in stressful situations, such as in gun battles, and it is therefore very easy to forget the number of rounds that have been fired. In such circumstances, it is also impossible to eject the magazine in order to count the number of bullets remaining. Also, the user might not be able to look at any visual indicator of the number of bullets that may be left in the magazine, either because of the circumstances or because there is not enough available light.
Many patents have been issued relating to indicators for magazines.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,377,661 to Baker discloses a magazine having a flexible ribbon joined to the follower and having an indicator means attached, where the position of the indicator means along a slot informs the user of the number of cartridges within the magazine.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,202,768 to Arnold discloses an indicator tape having indicating characters that are selectively displayed in a frame as ammunition is discharged.
U.S. Pat. No. 382,455 to Butler discloses a bar having gear teeth on an edge and a series of figures intended to be visible one at a time through an opening.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,828,568 to Sakewitz discloses a magazine having a plate marked with numbers that moves past two windows in the grip of a gun to indicate the number of cartridges remaining.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,620,582 to Stukas discloses a magazine having a slot on the side which would show the number of cartridges remaining.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,756 to Jakubaschk, et al., discloses a magazine having an indicator that follows a spring as it uncoils.
A number of other patents have been issued for indicator means for guns, including U.S. Pat. No. 343,471 to Maynard, U.S. Pat. No. 502,389 to Whitten, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 784,786 to Gottardi, U.S. Pat. No. 1,326,234 to Veeder, U.S. Pat. No. 1,332,936 to Veeder, U.S. Pat. No. 2,569,995 to Kapsa and U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,626 to Bartolles.
Of the above mentioned references, only U.S. Pat. No. 784,786 to Gottardi provides a means for determining the number of cartridges remaining without looking at the gun. Further, except for U.S. Pat. No. 2,377,661 to Baker, all of the above references require structures in the gun to cooperate with the magazine for the indicator to function. Thus, it would be impossible to provide existing guns with the indicators disclosed in the above references (except for Baker) unless the guns were modified to provide the requisite cooperating structures. This prevents retrofitting existing guns with these indicators by merely providing replacement magazines (except for Baker).
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an indicator that simply and reliably indicates the number of bullets remaining in a magazine.
It is also an object of this invention to provide such an indicator that can be used quickly, easily and reliably without the user looking at the magazine or the gun.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such an indicator that is self-contained in a magazine and that does not require cooperating structure on the gun so that the indicator can be used on existing guns merely by replacing the magazine.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide such an indicator that can be easily retrofitted to existing magazines.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide such an indicator that is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.